Brent Curnow testifies in Mapleton elk trial that he believed he did nothing wrong

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
05/29/2014 11:53:29 AM MDT

Updated:
05/29/2014 08:37:13 PM MDT

Former Boulder police officer Brent Curnow took the stand Thursday and testified that he did not have reason to believe he was doing anything wrong when then-officer Sam Carter asked him to pick up an elk he had shot Jan. 1, 2013.

"I thought I was coming to pick up an animal that was put down because it needed to be put down," Curnow told the jury at Carter's trial in Boulder District Court.

Carter, 37, is facing charges including attempting to influence a public official, tampering with evidence, official misconduct, illegal possession of a trophy elk and unlawful taking of a big game animal after he shot an elk on Mapleton Hill while on duty.

The trial centers on whether the shooting was a plot to kill a beloved trophy elk and cover it up, or an officer euthanizing an aggressive and injured animal.

Curnow was charged with the same counts Carter is on trial for, but he took a plea deal and received a deferred sentence, home detention and probation.

Curnow acknowledged in court Thursday that in texts sent prior to the elk's death, Carter was telling him he planned to kill the elk. But Curnow said Carter told him the animal was "gimped."

After Carter told him he had killed the elk, Curnow said he drove to Boulder to retrieve the carcass and that Carter filled out a roadkill form so he could transport the elk.

He then took it to his home, where he butchered it. He said he bagged the elk's organs, feet and vertebrae and threw those bags away in the trash bins used by a meat store he frequented.

Curnow said he called Colorado Parks and Wildlife and believed he never lied to officials or on any forms that he or Carter filled out.

Curnow also testified that he called Colorado Parks and Wildlife and reported the elk the next day. But while he testified that he reported it was a trophy elk with a six-point rack, the representative at Parks and Wildlife, John Flier, testified later that was not the case.

Sam Carter, left, sits with his attorney Marc Colin on Thursday, May 29, 2014, listening to witness testimony in his trial for the shooting of a trophy elk. (Mark Leffingwell / Daily Camera)

Flier said Curnow told him that the elk was put down by Carter after a car collision and said the collision knocked off one of the antlers completely and that the other rack had only two points.

The second day of testimony in Carter's trial began with a Mapleton Hill resident saying she was "disgusted" by Carter's actions and did not think the elk needed to be euthanized.

Nancy Pierce, who lives on the corner of Ninth Street and Mapleton Avenue where the elk was shot, said the animal had often come into her yard to eat crabapples from a tree. She said she was worried because, on New Year's Eve, drunken revelers coming from Pearl Street had tried to take pictures of the elk and that it lowered its head, but never charged them.

On Jan. 1, Pierce said she saw a police cruiser with its spotlight aimed at the elk and went outside to talk to Carter. Carter told her that he had received reports of an "aggressive" elk, and Pierce testified she thought he was there to keep people away from it.

"I was relieved," she said.

But Pierce said Carter then told her, "Ma'am, don't be surprised if you hear a gunshot because we might have to take him down." Pierce said she went inside at that point but was "stunned" by Carter's statement.

Pierce then said that while watching the elk from her kitchen, she heard a shot and saw the animal "go down" and convulse for several minutes while it died.

"It looked like it was drowning in its own blood," said Pierce, who became emotional on the stand while describing the scene.

Pierce said her husband, Roger Koenig, and her son then went out and joined Carter and Boulder County sheriff's Deputy Jeff George — who had arrived on the scene — in what she described as a "fest." At one point, a picture was taken of Carter holding the elk's antlers.

"I thought, 'This shouldn't be like this,'" Pierce said. "The trophy shot, it was disgusting.

"I think they were hunting that animal."

Carter's attorney, Marc Colin, asked Pierce about a report from Colorado Parks and Wildlife in which she said the elk had "charged" people, but Pierce said it was more accurate to say it had lowered its head.

Former Boulder police officer Brent Curnow testifies about night of the shooting during the trial for former officer Sam Carter on Thursday, May 29, 2014. (Mark Leffingwell / Daily Camera)

Her husband, Koenig, was the last witness to testify Thursday. He said he gave Carter the benefit of the doubt because he was a police officer, but he noticed some "unusual" things about the incident.

For one, Koenig said he thought the shot that Carter fired was not safe and put neighbors at risk.

"It seemed outrageous, to tell you the truth," he said.

Koenig said George and Carter also had a friendly argument about how big the elk's rack was, and he said he was surprised to see Curnow show up in a private vehicle to load up the carcass.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife veterinary pathologist Dr. Karen Fox, who conducted the necropsy on the elk, testified Thursday that all she received from rangers was a "truckful of elk parts," including the head, part of the hide, some ribs and a few chunks of meat. But Fox said she was able to determine the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck.

"There wasn't much to see, but what was there was pretty straightforward," she said.

Fox said she saw no signs of a prior injury severe enough to warrant euthanizing the elk.

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